Helio Castroneves fastest in final Indianapolis 500 practice
Helio Castroneves topped a rain-shortened final Indianapolis 500 practice session before qualifying for the IndyCar showpiece event on Saturday
Castroneves was in the second practice group, which had its track time cut by 10 minutes due to the weather.
But he still managed to run long enough to post a tow-assisted 233.474mph lap, the fastest of the month so far.
JR Hildebrand, who was in the first group, finished up second-fastest at 232.985mph, and was the lone interloper among an otherwise all-Penske top five: immediately behind him were Simon Pagenaud, Will Power and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Schmidt's James Hinchcliffe was fastest of the Honda-powered drivers, and sixth-fastest overall, at 231.649mph.
Further weather disruptions are possible during qualifying, with radars indicating that showers are expected to move through the Indianapolis area in the hours ahead.
SATURDAY MORNING PRACTICE TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 38.5482s | 233.474 |
| 2 | J.R. Hildebrand | CFH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 38.6291s | 232.985 |
| 3 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 38.8068s | 231.918 |
| 4 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 38.8086s | 231.907 |
| 5 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 38.8382s | 231.731 |
| 6 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 38.8519s | 231.649 |
| 7 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 38.8534s | 231.640 |
| 8 | Gabby Chaves | Bryan Herta Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 38.9030s | 231.345 |
| 9 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 38.9462s | 231.088 |
| 10 | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 38.9490s | 231.071 |
| 11 | Takuma Sato | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 38.9680s | 230.959 |
| 12 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.0178s | 230.664 |
| 13 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 39.0334s | 230.572 |
| 14 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 39.0390s | 230.539 |
| 15 | Townsend Bell | Dreyer and Reinbold | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.0496s | 230.476 |
| 16 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 39.0605s | 230.412 |
| 17 | Justin Wilson | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 39.0714s | 230.348 |
| 18 | Ed Carpenter | CFH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.0820s | 230.285 |
| 19 | Sage Karam | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.1222s | 230.048 |
| 20 | Sebastian Saavedra | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.1423s | 229.930 |
| 21 | Josef Newgarden | CFH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.1428s | 229.927 |
| 22 | Oriol Servia | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 39.1796s | 229.711 |
| 23 | Jack Hawksworth | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 39.1847s | 229.681 |
| 24 | Stefano Coletti | KV Racing Technology | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.1859s | 229.674 |
| 25 | James Jakes | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 39.2018s | 229.581 |
| 26 | Alex Tagliani | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 39.2112s | 229.526 |
| 27 | Conor Daly | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 39.2551s | 229.270 |
| 28 | Sebastien Bourdais | KVSH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.2627s | 229.225 |
| 29 | Pippa Mann | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 39.3129s | 228.932 |
| 30 | Simona de Silvestro | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 39.3354s | 228.802 |
| 31 | Bryan Clauson | KVSH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.5229s | 227.716 |
| 32 | Buddy Lazier | Lazier Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.8424s | 225.890 |
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